Posted on 15 September 2009 | No Comment

Finished Product!

I have been hearing about Minx for quite some time now; they were even mentioned by Sheree (of She by Sheree fame? LOL) on the Real Housewives of Atlanta. And you know if she co-signs, “they must be hot” (said in a Lisa Wu voice). I knew Valley was waiting on a new shipment of the decals, which you can read more about on the Minx website here, and I was dying to try them.

I was set-up with the amazing Markita, who is a pro with the Minx. I picked out various different styles, including a silver overlay with black dots and a gold decal with a fishnet graphic on it. I also like the leopard ones and a set with a block pattern that almost looks 3D in person. But Markita let me know that the gold and silver ones were some of the most popular choices, and although I loved them, when she mentioned a lot of girls were doing them, I wanted to be “different”. Oh girl, you so different!

I chose the crazy Deee-Lite flowery pattern, because it reminded me of a Murakami painting or something. After hemming and hawing about the color for the rest of my nails, I chose China Glaze’s “Secret Periwinkle”, which just mismatches enough. Markita masterfully put Cal gel (which they affectionately call Val gel at Valley) over the decal once it got warm under a heat lamp, as well as Cal gel over the rest of my clear nails. Once that dried, M painted my nails and added topcoat. The gel lengthens the life of the manicure, makes your nails harder, and does not damage your nails like acrylics. It isn’t too thick on the top of the nail either, and we all know that nothing looks funkier than a girl with a bubbly set o’ nails. The ladies of Valley tell me the gel should last about a month, give or take a few days. The best thing about not doing a whole set of Minx is that I can change the color of the polish myself and the cal gel will stay intact over my nails. This way, I can keep the flowery graphic and change the polish to orange or pink when I get bored of the Periwinkle….or when I feel that fall is here and I am holding onto the idea of summer too long.

All in all, it was a great experience, and I can’t wait to get to Valley with Markita again! Definitely go to her, but don’t steal all the appointments, beezys! I think next time I may do a different graphic for each finger, or maybe do all the fingers but the middle finger, just so I can change the color of “the bird” whenever I see fit. Either way, I am not officially OBSESSED with the process.

Also, while I was getting my nails did, Leah from Married to the Mob stepped in to chat with the ladies of Valley. It was great eavesdropping fodder during my session!

Check out some of the nail art at the Valley website, and make sure you tell them when you want to do Mix, as not all of the nail technicians do them.